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  1. 1. Create Better Sites With These Website Development TipssoapboxdigitalmediaIts important for new web designer to learn the basics of proper website creation, so they can createsome good-looking and functional websites. Many sources are out there to give the novice designeraa place to start -- and this is one of those sources. Read on for some basic website design tips to helpyou improve your skills.The use of JavaScript should be kept at a minimum. It has several useful benefits, but can also beproblematic. There are many different web browsers that people use and they are constantly beingupdated with new features. Not everyone will upgrade to the latest version of his browser.Additionally, you need to realize many people disable the JavaScript function in their browser. Theseboth could keep users from getting to your website.Consider your site visitors Internet bandwidths when you add videos to your site. You may want tochange your videos to 5,000 kb/s, but that still can be much quicker than someones internetconnection. Videos with extremely high speeds like this will load slowly and buffer frequently forvisitors on slow connections.Always include keywords in your website design that are relevant to your target market. The mosteffective websites are both attractive and effective. You need to understand who you are developingthis website for. Find words and phrases that your readers can absorb and apply to their own life.Find some and sprinkle them throughout your content.Resist the temptation to make use of free web hosts for commercial sites. You will prevent headachesand loss of business. Although everyone likes to hear that something is free, there really is no suchthing. Though you wont pay for the hosting in dollars, your site will suffer when it is constantlycrowded with advertisements that you have absolutely no control over. This can significantly changethe way you have to do business, and make you lose customers in the process.Be very critical of the fonts you choose. Many times you can tell a site is not professional because ofthe fonts they have chosen. Do not employ exotic fonts that will be absent from many visitorscomputers or over-used fonts such as Comic Sans. A font could be subset to a default font in thecomputer of your user, if they do not have it. This could cause it to look bad.Many of the best domain names are currently taken, but you may find it beneficial to explore auctionsites like Sedo to see what may be available. These sites offer access to dozens of domain names,including those that were abandoned or sold.See how your design does on different web browsers. Every device, browser and platform will changehow your website displays, which could create a bad user experience. Using available resources,determine which browsers are the most popular among your target demographic. Make sure to beta-test your site on all popular browsers, including those used on mobile devices.If you want your website to get more visitors, take care to use relevant, up-to-date meta tags on every
  2. 2. page of your site. High-quality meta tags will let the search engines know what your website is about.Poor or useless tags that are irrelevant to your site will deter future and returning visitors.Adobe Photoshop is a valuable software program for any dedicated web designer. Photoshop is aprogram that individuals new to website design can use to quickly create professional level pages. Ifyou dont have an easy-to-use tool like Photoshop, it will drastically increase the time and effortrequired to build a professional-looking website.Throughout the design process, it is essential to make sure your sites designs looks and works theway you want it to on every web browser, so always check it across all common web browsers. Everybrowser interprets sites in their own way, and sometimes that can lead to drastic differences in theway a site appears to a user, affecting not only visual elements, but functional elements as well.Using available resources, determine which browsers are the most popular among your targetdemographic. Use all popular browsers to test your site, including the mobile web ones.If you are having a hard time finding the right domain name for your site, visit auction sites like Sedoto find one. You may be able to find a domain name that is no longer in use and may be suitable foryour site.Speed is everything when it comes to the Internet, so make sure that you keep your websites loadingtime to a minimum. If your visitors are waiting forever while something is loading on your site, there isa good chance they will quickly leave and never return.Consider a domain auction as a source for prospective domain names. Sites such as SEDO havemany domain names which have been set up already and are available to be purchased. It may beexpensive, but the right domain is worth every penny.If youre planning to design multiple sites, it would serve you well to learn to work with multipleplatforms. Skills in Java, PHP, MySQL and others will enable you to build many different kinds ofwebsites. Whether its working on your own site or helping someone you know get a site off theground, keep developing yourself into a multifaceted web designer.Pop-ups should be given a wide swerve. Nobody appreciates new windows popping up automaticallywhen they visit a webpage. Many people will leave a site that has pop-ups, even the big sites. Avoidannoying your customers, by staying away from these irritating advertisements. As well, if your webhost makes it mandatory that you have pop-up advertising, look into a new host asap. Its not worththe annoyance level they create.Create a favicon that reflects your websites personality. This is a tiny graphic that can help users toinstantly recognize your site if they choose to bookmark it. When they are looking at the bookmarksthey have created, your little favicon will make an impression. Your favicon should mesh well with therest of your sites content.Use a layout for your site that you can work with and that is basic so that you understand thefundamentals of website creation first. Begin with the basics and evolve your site as time goes on andyou become more advanced in your capabilities and understanding of web page design.Now that you are aware of some ways you can improve your website development skills, you can behappier about your future in web page design. Just be aware of the ever changing website
  3. 3. development landscape as there is always more you can learn, and soon you will be a skilled webdesigner.